I highly recommend dropping everything to make this rich, velvety soup. It is very simple to make, but I guarantee the taste of it will blow you away! I used vegetables I had in my fridge/from my garden, but feel free to change up the recipe to whatever vegetables you have on hand. Now go, get cooking! You have friends who need impressing!
RECIPE:
Garlic Infused Olive Oil
3 Small Tomatoes
5 Carrots
1 Small Green Pepper
1 Sweet Vidalia Onion
Herbs
Seasonings
Butter (optional)
Cream (optional)
Freshly Grated Parmesan (optional)
Water
1. Heat a generous amount of garlic infused oil on medium heat in a Le Creuset pot or a sturdy kettle. Basically, you want enough oil to cover the entire surface of your pot. If you don't have garlic oil on hand you can add some chopped garlic to the oil, just make sure it doesn't get very brown or it will turn bitter. Add some fresh or dried herbs to the oil until aromatic.
2. While the oil is heating dice all your vegetables.
3. Add the onion/pepper/carrot mixture. Add salt/pepper/seasonings of your choice. Sauté until onions are translucent + brown. Add a dab of butter to mixture. Add tomatoes. Sauté all ingredients for a good 5 minutes.
4. Add enough water to cover all the vegetables + let simmer until all vegetables are soft. Approximately 15 minutes. Then remove from heat + let cool a bit.
5. Add soup mixture to a blender. CAUTION, mixture is still hot so don't cover the blender completely. Either use towel to cover the blender or just set the top loosely over blender so you don't get sprayed. Puree until well blended. Add a bit of water as needed to get a runny applesauce consistency. Also, add more seasoning if needed.
6. Strain soup through a cheesecloth. This is what makes it SO velvety. YUM.
7. At this point I added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese + a bit of cream. I think this makes it go all the way up to an eleven. I am not kidding this soup is fantastic.
8. Enjoy.
***NOTE: This recipe only makes 1 larger bowl of soup. If you are making this for a bunch of people, I recommend using 5 large, ripe tomatoes, 1 pound of carrots, 2 large peppers of any color (mixed colors), 1 large sweet Vidalia onion & more of everything else, as needed.
